


Lost In The Woods

by cheshirewritesagain1907



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types, Hannibal Lecter Tetralogy - Thomas Harris
Genre: But He Is Not Insane, Character studies, Child Adoption, Child Death, Child Murder, Child!Hannibal, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hannibal Is A Genius, M/M, Will As Dad, Will Is Not Well, Will Loves Hannibal, good parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-09-06 09:54:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16830274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshirewritesagain1907/pseuds/cheshirewritesagain1907
Summary: Will Graham had a break-down and takes some time off work to travel. He is spending time with himself and his dog, trying to get away from people. When he gets lost in the woods in a strange country, he finds his ‘gift’, a neccessary evil, doesn’t only bring forth bad things.I had another character studies I actually didn’t want to publish because it was just a guiding line for me. However, I totally love Hannibal in this story and wanted to share it with you guys. No guarantees on updates though because it’s most likely not a complete story.





	1. Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Well, enjoy. Another of my character studies. Question, recommendations, etc. are welcome.  
> Not beta’d, just checked over once by myself.  
> Not sure where this is heading yet. The tags will update (maybe underage, etc.) and I will let you know in the notes at the beginning of each chapter if there is something you gotta heed.

Will wasn’t sure how he had gotten himself into this situation. Usually he was very good at navigating but this time he had gotten lost in the woods.

It was cold and a thick blanket of snow was covering the floor and trees.

Will pulled his dog Winston closer by his leash. He was a well behaved dog and wouldn’t dream of running off but they were in a strange country in woods he didn’t know as well as he had thought apparently.

Will had another look at the map. The small country inn, it didn’t deserve that name -really it was just a room he stayed in that some people had rented him out because they were too poor to say no to his money, he was staying in should be somewhere down the left. Only probably an hour’s walk.

The locals had been very friendly although they didn’t understand English and Will barely spoke their language apart from a few words he had written down from a dictionary.

That was exactly what he had wanted. He had wanted to get out, get away from his life as an FBI agent. He had had too many cases that had nearly cost him his life and sanity and he wanted to get away to somewhere where he could be alone, where no one would try to talk to him.

Will was 32 and he was already broken. He used to see a psychiatrist but he gave that up too. Dr Bloom had been a nice and kind man but he hadn’t been able to understand Will.

No one was able to understand Will. He had a gift as some would call it but he liked to refer to it as curse. He hated it. He was empathic but that to a degree that was barely endurable. It provided him with the ability to look into other people’s heads, to feel what they felt, to see what they saw.

The FBI had almost run his door down in order to recruite him. An agent with the ability to look into other people’s heads was like finding gold at the end of the rainbow to them.

And they had used him. He had let them in order to save lifes. In the end it he had needed to make a decision and he had chosen to survive. He had chosen to leave, physically and mentally. Go to places with as little people as possible. Run.

That’s how he had come to the decision he would go to Europe. He had been to Norway, Sweden and Finland, taking up residence for a few months in each country in towns with as little people as possible. He had enjoyed it so far and decided to go on.

Now he was in Lithuania, quite a poor country but with many friendly people. The small town in the middle of nowhere was the perfect place for him.  
But he had barely been here for more than a week and wasn’t too familiar with the place. That was why he had gotten lost now.

It wouldn’t be dark for another few hours so he should be fine finding his way back.

Will studied the map again, looking into every direction before looking back at the map again.

He started walking again. This just had to be the right direction.

After about an hour he started to worry. There was still no sight of the small village.

Suddenly he saw something off in the distance.  
Will started walking towards it. When he got closer it became apparent that it was a hunter’s lodge.

Maybe he was lucky and these people could tell him the way into down. If they would understand his pityful Lithuanian.

Will strode purposefully towards the lodge, Winston happily jumping beside him in the snow.

The former FBI agent knocked at the door carefully.

“Sveiki?”, he asked loud but unsure. “Uhm, hello? Anybody home?”

No answer came.

Will tried again but the lodge stayed silent.

If the darkness came before he found his way back into the town he would freeze to death out here in the woods.

He tried the door handle and it gave way under his hand, the door swinging open with a quiet creak.

Will carefully stepped inside.

“Sveiki? Mano vardas yra Will. Ah, uhm, I’m looking for the town? Miestas?”

No answer came.

As Will looked around he found the interior to be quite messy. No not messy. It looked like someone had broken into the lodge. Things were lying around broken and damaged, furniture was out of place and tipped over.

Now, thinking about it, it was quite chilly in here too. The only heat source appeared to be a huge fire place which wasn’t lit and no wood was anywhere to be seen.

Will carefully mimiked Winston to keep quiet and stay put. He himself went on to explore. The lodge wasn’t big, no upper floor, no basement.

Everything was upset, more like signs of a struggle than someone looking for something.

There was a backdoor which was slightly ajar. Will crept closer, alarmed in case someone was out there still.

When he carefully peeped throught the gap in the door he saw the blood.

Opening the door a bit wider he saw where it was coming from. A man, a woman and a (god this is why he had left the FBI just to come here and find this) young girl, four maximum five years old. She was beautiful, looking like an angel in the snow wouldn’t there be the ugly red gin across her throat.

Will moved carefully to touch them for any sign of life, anything that would tell him where the killer was.

When he touched the girl’s body he realised that they were frozen. Checking the bodies he gave a guess that they probably had been dead at least several days but he couldn’t be sure because of the low temperatures.

Will knew that he could just walk away, alarm the authorities in the town and let them do the work. The killer could be anywhere by now. There was no reason whatsoever to use his curse.

But he knew he couldn’t just walk away, not with this young girl lying in her own blood, frozen.

Will slowly went back inside the house and took a long look around.

Then he closed his eyes.

_I knock at the door. I have a clear goal. I know why I am here._

_The door opens and the man’s face twists in anger. He screams at me to leave his property._

_We have been in a fight for forever. He has betrayed me more than once. He has taken everything from me and now I will take._

_Quickly I punch him into the stomach. He wasn’t expecting it. He goes down to his knees, wheezing in pain._

_I kick the door open. The woman is trying to hide her children, the girl and a boy about eight years, behind her back, shoving them towards the backdoor._

_The man is back on his feet and tries to attack me but I’m prepared. I lash out with my knife, hitting air._

_He is trying to get his weapon but I’m faster. I drive the knife into his left kidney; he falls again.  
I turn towards the woman and her children again. She grabs a kitchen knife and holds it out in front of her, crying, shaking._

_I slap the knife out of her hands and push her aside. I grab the little girl by her upper arm._

_The boy is trying to defend his sister but I slap him hard. He falls to the floor, probably dizzy and in pain. I don’t care._

_I pull the girl out the backdoor._

_Everyone follows me outside, the father on the floor crawling, begging for his daughter’s life._

_The mother holds her crying son back._

_I slit the girl’s throat, watching the agony on the man’s face. I smile and drop the girl in the snow.  
The woman pushes her son away as she is taken and I slit the woman’s throat too. The man’s face is a mask of pain._

_As I leave the woman dead on the floor I realise the boy is gone._

_The father hadn’t noticed that. He is kneeling beside his daughter, hugging her close._

_I pull him away from her. I watch him writhe in agony over seeing his loved ones die._

_I slit his throat eventually and watch him die._

_The boy is nowhere to be found as I search the house but I don’t care anymore. He will die out here without much food and warmth. He is not my problem._

_I came to see the man hurting, to see him die the ones he loved before I take his life. This was my goal. My deed is done._

_I walk away from my design, leaving the blood soaking into the snow._

Will opens his eyes again. There was a chance the boy was still alive. He quickly moves around the house, looking into every cupboard, every place the boy might hide. If he was still here.

“Hello? I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help you.”

Ridiculous Graham, he scalds himself. The boy wouldn’t be able to understand.

Suddenly Winston barks. Will moves towards him. He is sniffing at a floor board, scratching it lightly.

“Winston, stop.”, he commands and gently pushes the dog away.

Will checks the floor board in question and finds it loose. He carefully lifts it. 

There is a crawlspace, barely big enough for a child. Said child is curled up on himself, shivering from the cold and possibly also fear.

Big amber eyes look up at him with so much fear that it almost breaks his heart.

“Hello.”

Will smiles. He know the boy won’t understand him but speaking in a soft voice will hopefully calm the boy.

“I’m Will and this guy here is Winston.”

He scratches the dog behind his ears.

“Come, I’ll make sure you’ll get into town and we’ll warm you up and feed you.”

The boy was still looking at him before he carefully moved.

Will extended his hand to help him out but regretted it immediately. The boy flinched back, almost hurting himself in the process.

Will stood and moved a few steps back, holding his hands up.

“I’m not going to hurt you, little one. All is good.”  
The boy apparently decided that he was okay with that and came out of his hiding place.

His clothes were torn and dirty. He wasn’t wearing proper winter attire, no jacket.

If Will had to give it a guess he’d say that the boy had tried to keep the fire going, first with wood, then with clothes from his parents and sister, his own. Until he ran out of them. And then he had started to burn his jacket, still hoping someone would find him.

Will took off his jacket, slowly coming closer.

“I’ll put that around your shoulders, yes?”

The boy watched him closely but didn’t move. Will took that as a yes and put his jacket around the boy who immediately snuggled into it.

“You don’t happen to know how to get back into town?”

The boy blinked at him.

“Uhm... Miestas?”

The boy still only looked at him.

“Okay. We need to go and try to get back.”

Will pulled out his map and looked at it, turning it in the right direction.

The boy came carefully closer, still keeping his distance, and Will tilted the map so he could see. Maybe the boy would see the map and know where to go.

Will pointed at the town.

“Here. We need to get here.”

The boy took the map, turned it and handed it back to Will.

“Ah, okay. Good. Let’s try this.”

Will whistled Winston to his side and took the leash before he left the house.

The boy slowly followed.

Will wasn’t good with children, as he wasn’t good with people, so he was glad the boy reacted on his own and he didn’t need to coax him into following him, into letting him help him.

They walked for a while before Will heard the boy fall. He turned around and saw him sitting in the snow, shivering and exhausted.

Will hadn’t thought about the fact that he might not have eaten in days and scolded himself for his stupidity.

Quickly Will rushed over and kneeled beside the boy. He flinched away or tried to but he couldn’t, he was too weak.

Winston came close as Will motioned him to.

“What’s your name?”

The boy shivered and seemed barely able to keep himself upright now.

Will picked up the boy who struggled slightly but the former FBI agent didn’t give him a chance to get free. He carried him until his muscles were burning from exhaustion.

When he finally saw the first lights of the small town it had started to get dark.

They reached the place they were staying in and Will carried the boy up to his room and put him in his bed, wrapping him tightly into the blankets.

He commanded Winston to stay with the boy and he himself went downstairs again to speak to the locals.

With hand and feet he managed to explain to them what he had found and when the police came, he did it again.

They went to check on his story but no one seemed to care about the boy.

When he asked one of the people he was staying with what would happen to him or if there were any relatives, they avoided his question and just told him that there were no relatives.

Will guessed from their reactions that they didn’t like the boy’s family, Lecter, very much but he didn’t know why.

Will got some hot food for himself and the boy and carried it upstairs to his room.

The boy was still asleep, Winston watching him.  
Will decided that he would wake the boy to eat something and then he could sleep some more.

Will kneeled besides the boy, stroking his shoulder.

“Hey there.”, he said softly.

The boy jerked lightly but Will held his shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.”

He smiled at the boy and helped him to sit up and walk to the small table where the food was waiting for them.

The boy saw the food and barely sat before he started spooning it into his mouth at impossible speed, barely chewing as he swallowed.

Will sat down beside him and stilled his hand.  
The boy looked up at him with his cheeks full like a chipmunk. Will couldn’t help himself but smile.

“Slow down, there is more. If you eat too fast you’ll feel sick.”

The boy looked at him for a few more moments before he started eating again but slowly.

Will was a bit puzzled.

“Do you understand me?”

The boy made a movement between a shrug and a nod and the FBI agent assumed that he did understand at least a little bit. 

Will was relieved.

“I’m Will.”

The boy didn’t look at him but Will knew that he was keeping a careful eye on him in the periphery of his vision.

While Will still waited for an answer he took his own food and started eating slowly in case the boy would want some more.

“Well, I was trying to find any relatives of yours but I had no luck so far. The police doesn’t really seem to care either.”, he said after a while.

The boy didn’t say anything but got up, his food finished, and crawled back into bed.

Will watched him. He had no idea about children but he felt somehow responsible for this one now. He knew that it would not leave him a peaceful moment if he wasn’t able to help him.


	2. Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me screwing the legal system of at least two countries at the same time ;D

Will had spent his night on the small sofa with a way too thin blanket. He woke too early with a stiff neck and freezing cold.

He went into the bathroom and fiddled with the boiler in order to get some hopefully warm water.

His shower ended up being tepid but that was better than freezing water. 

The boy still slept so Will brought him food to the room before he went to the small police station.

It was still dark outside like it usually was around this late morning hours in these countries in December.

The man working there assured him, by explaining with his hand and feet, that there would be a police officer coming by midday who understood English.

Will spent the following hours browsing around the tiny shops. Christmas was approaching in a few days and he wanted to get a gift for the boy even if he would never see him again after tomorrow.

At noon there was indeed a police officer here to speak with him. He had travelled all the way from Vilnius this morning.

They sat together in a small room in the police station; Officer Melis had the case file open in front of himself.

“The boy.”, he said in a strong accent. “Is called Hannibal Lecter.”

Will took a sip of the terrible instant coffee.

“His family was one of the richest in Lithuania, his father being a count. Apparently he, ah... how do you say, pissed off quite a few people with his arrogance. We have quite a few suspects but there may be many more. It will take us a while to investigate all of them.”

“What about the boy?”

“Well.” Melis looked through the alarmingly thin folder. “It appears that there are no living relatives. He will be placed under the care of the state.”

“An orphanage.”

Melis gave a sharp nod.

“I’m afraid so. Until someone adopts him.”

Will didn’t like the fact of the boy being in an orphanage. He knew that children in there had not the life they deserved although the state tried their best. At least that was true for the US. Will has no idea what was going on in Lithuania at the moment but the economy wasn’t the best. The orphanages would certainly also suffer.

“What if someone were to adopt him?”

Melis looked at Will for a long moment.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Mr Graham. Every child that we don’t need to feed is a relief. Our economy is not the best as you might have already realised. If I see that someone cares for a child, I will help them adopt it if needed be.”

Will, not a person for eye contact, held the officer’s gaze.

“I want to adopt Hannibal. Of course I’ll ask him first if he is okay with it but I would like to. I would like to take him back to the states.”  
The officer looked at the file again.

“I will need to have a look at you interacting with him and ask him about his opinion but I don’t see anything speaking against it. I will testify for you if you convince me, Mr Graham.”

Will stood.

“Thank you very much. I’ll try my best.”

The officer stood as well.

“Will it be alright to get a statement from the boy today?”

“I’d rather you’d not. Give him another day or two, he’s just lost his family. I’ll come by with him when he is ready.”

Melis nodded.

“I’ll stay here until things are done. Mr Graham.”

He left the room.

☆☆☆☆

Will entered the small room he was staying in and found it empty. The food had been eaten and the bed was messy.

Winston was sitting at the bathroom door, watching it intently.

“Good boy. Is he in there?”, the American asked his dog.

Winston gave a small yelp and moved away from the door, granting Will access.

Will put the small bag into his suitcase before he went to the bathroom, knocking at the door.

“Hannibal? Are you there?”

No answer but he could now clearly hear the water running.

“I’ll come in.”

Still no answer.

Will pushed the door open.

The boy, Hannibal he corrected himself, sat in the shower, the water hitting his small body. He shivered and cried. His lips were blue.

Will rushed to him, turning off the water and let himself sink on the floor beside Hannibal. He pulled the boy into his arms not minding the water soaking into his clothes.

Will wasn’t good with words but he could hold the boy.

Suddenly Hannibal grabbed his shirt so tight that he was just on the point of tearing it and pulled him even closer. 

Will embraced him tightly.

By now Hannibal was shivering so desperately that Will got up, or tried to. Hannibal clung so tightly to him that it was almost impossible for him to get to his feet.

As soon as he managed he lifted the boy into his arms and grabbed a towel, quite scratchy but it would have to do, and sat on the bed with the boy.

Will dried him off as good as possible and wrapped the duvet around the boy as tightly as possible to warm him up.

Winston jumped on the bed, cuddling up to Hannibal in Will’s arms to keep him warm. The boy fidgeted a bit until he felt the warm fur against his skin.

Hannibal fell asleep as soon as Will had wrapped him up.

Will moved to lean against the headboard of the bed so he could keep the boy in his lap.

The sun had long set when Hannibal stirred in his arms.

Will’s stomach rumbled and the boy looked up at him with wide eyes.

Something inside Will started to churn at the thought that the young one could decide to stay in his country and not go with him. The thought made him sick.

He hadn’t been with the boy for long but he had grown attached to him too fast.

It always had been like this with him. He grew attached too fast and then he lost the people he cared about.

Will couldn’t help himself but press a light kiss to the top of Hannibal’s head.

The boy’s amber eyes went wide but he didn’t pull away. Instead he snuggled back against Will and rested his head against the older’s shoulder.

“I think I should get us some food.”

Hannibal nodded but gripped him tighter.

Will laughed quietly, moving to sit up.

“I’ll get us anything you want. What do you like?”

Hannibal opened his mouth to speak but not a tone came out. He looked confused and tried again but nothing happened.

Will stroked his back as the boy got increasingly more anxious. The last thing he needed was to have the boy hyperventilating.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to speak.”

Will wrapped the duvet tighter around the boy before he got up and went to his suitcase.

He pulled out a pen and a notepad he carried around just in case. Then he handed it to Hannibal.

“Can you write?”

He nodded.

“Great. If you feel like telling me something just write it down, yeah?”

Another nod.

“So, what do you want to eat?”

☆☆☆☆

The next day Will, with Hannibal at his hand, went to see officer Melis.

The officer talked to Hannibal in Lithuanian but the boy was only able to give written, short answers. Nothing was of any value to the police.

Will had the suspicion that the boy was holding back on something but he would never push the boy into telling something he didn’t want to say. Or write for that matter.

Once done, the officer looked at Will before he told Hannibal about Will’s proposition from the day before. Or at least Will hoped that was what he said.

Silence filled the room as Hannibal looked at Will with his unreadable, amber coloured eyes.

Will was the one to be anxious now. The boy could decline. After all, he didn’t even know him.

In case that happened Will would stay and make sure that Hannibal was treated well to wherever he went. He would make sure that no more harm came to this boy. He had seen enough horror for a whole lifetime.

Hannibal, instead of answering, climbed on Will’s lap and curled up against his chest. Will knew that he was hiding his tears because he himself could hardly hold them back.

Get a grip on yourself, Graham. he told himself. After all he had now a child to take care of. He would do everything in his power to ensure that he had everything and would grow up happy.  
Will was scared to hell and back about raising a child. He had no idea about human beings in general, preferring the company of dogs, but he knew that he would try.

☆☆☆☆

The paperwork took a few days with the help of officer Melis. Hannibal’s temporary passport took a bit longer since they needed to get a provisional one before they could do all the paper work in the states.

Shortly before Christmas Will Graham and Hannibal Graham Lecter (Will had insited on keeping his name so the boy could decide which one he preferred when he was older) woke in a small hotel room in the Lithuanian capital city. They had a plane to catch.

Winston would travel separate from them by a special service that would deliver the dog safely back home without him being sedated in the luggage space of the plane.

Will made sure the adoption papers (in Lithuanian and English) were together with all the other documents they needed to get through the checks at the airport.

Hannibal came out of the bathroom a bit paler than he had been before.

“Are you nervous?”

Hannibal looked at him questioningly.

“The flight? Does it scare you?”

The boy gave a small, embarrassed nod.

Will had quickly found out that the boy tried to be strong, hating to admit his weaknesses but the ex FBI profiler didn't need him to be. That was why he was here. He would look after the little, proud boy and make sure he trusted him enough to do that.

Will retrieved the small bag from his suitcase and took the item out. He handed it to Hannibal.

“I wanted to give it to you for Christmas but I think now is a good time.”

Hannibal slowly reached out for the stuffed dog and stroked its fur tentatively.

Will suddenly was scared that it might be a too childish gift for the boy. After all, he had never seen him play with anything and neither had he mentioned any toys he missed.

Hannibal looked up at Will, who was holding his breath. And then a small smile spread on the boy’s face. It was thefirst time that the ex FBI agent had seen the boy smile and he decided immediately that this was something he needed to see more often.

Hannibal opened his mouth as if to say thank you but then he realised that he couldn’t speak. A frown began to form on his face.

Will knelt down beside him.

“You used to speak before, didn’t you?”

The boy thought about what he had said and then nodded slowly.

“You’ll be able to speak one day again, I’m sure of it.”

Will hugged the boy and he let him.

“We need to leave.”

Hannibal nodded. He didn’t have a lot of things, only the clothing Will had bought him in town.

Will had wanted to take the boy back to get his own clothes from his family’s former home but he had seemed so upset about the suggestion that Will decided it wasn’t worth it.


	3. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a quite fast update but regarding the next ones I have no schedule I’m afraid.

During the whole flight Hannibal held the stuffed dog tightly against himself while looking out the window.

Will could feel the anxiety but also the excitement radiating off him without needing to look at him.

He had no idea if this was the right thing he did but he could not have let the boy grow up in an orphanage.

At least Will would be able to provide him with everything the boy needed and send him to a good school and later college.

All of that meant, of course, that Will would need to earn money again though. He had saved quite a bit working for the FBI as a profiler and field agent, their pay was actually quite good, but he would need a lot more in order to be able to give Hannibal the life he deserved.

They also would need to move. No matter how much the thought of giving up his beloved house pained Will, they would need a bigger house and preferrably one in the city so Hannibal could go to school without problems.

At the moment he had a spared room for Hannibal and could easily areange for a spare bed to be put inside there but on the long run this wouldn’t work out.

Will spend most of the flight thinking about these things and trying to metally sort out what he hadn’t dared to think about so far.

☆☆☆☆

The first few nights had been an adventure. Hannibal had had just as bad nightmares as himself.

After a few days of the boy being completely exhausted Will had decided to take him into his bed.

Hannibal would cuddle up against him and sleep soundly, almost no more nightmares. And Will had to admit that he himself was better with the young boy around.

Hannibal was now out playing with his dogs.

Since he had seen them he had started to smile again and this, in turn, made Will smile.

Now Will stood at the porch, smiling - something that had been a rare thing in the past but now became a frequent occurance - and watched Hannibal run with his dogs through the snow. They immediately had taken to him, listening to his silent commands sometimes more attentive than to Will himself.

Suddenly a car pulled up on the driveway. Will knew exactly who it was.

Alana exited the car with a big smile on her face. She ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

“Will. Why didn’t you say you were coming back? I had to find out from the neighbours that you took your dogs back.”

Will hugged her back. His eyes fell on Hannibal in the distance. He stood frozen, surrounded by dogs, watching Will and Alana.

Will immediately pushed Alana back.

“I didn’t know I was coming back and then everything went so fast.”

Will honestly had forgotten to tell her. In fact, he hadn’t told anyone so far. He had been so caught up in getting Hannibal here and him settled that this was the farthest from his mind.

Alrhough he had looked forward to seeing Alana again.

He fancied her. Straight out. But it always had been complicated between the two of them.

They had been friends for a long time now, being more or less the same age, but her father would never approve of a relationship between the two of them.

He had been Will’s therapist for a while now, until Will decided to go away. The FBI had insited that Will had a therapist since a traumatic incident showed how fragile he really was.

“I’m glad you’re back.”, she admitted, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Will smiled but still felt Hannibal’s eyes on him so he didn’t go in for another hug or even tried to kiss her.

Not that he wouldn’t like to have but now with Hannibal the situation was different.

Will would love to have a relationship with Alana because he had feelings for her. It probably wasn’t love because he had no idea how this felt, but it was deep.

She was a psychiatrist, just like her father, so he had always hoped that she would understand him and that it would be easy for them to be in a relationship.

Will had never had much luck in his relationships before. He wasn’t particularly picky if men or women, honestly he couldn’t afford to be, but none of his previous lovers had managed to stay with him for long.

There were the nightmares for once. The long hours of work and his disappearing in the middle of the night sometimes because a killer had decided to leave him a message.

Alana, he had always hoped, would understand but he had no guarantee for that.

“Why don’t you come in?”, Will suggested and motioned to Hannibal to come back.

The boy hesitated but eventually obeyed.

Alana was still turned towards Will and hadn’t seen the boy yet.

The dogs ran to the porch before him, sniffing at Alana who greeted them with a smile in her face.

Hannibal slowly crept closer as Will picked up a towel to dry the dog’s wet feet.

“Alana, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Hannibal went to Will and half hid behind him, seeking protection.

Will just put a hand on his bony shoulder, telling him silently him that Alana was nice.

Alana looked at the boy in confusion.

“Hannibal, this is Alana.”, he said addressing the boy. “Alana, this is Hannibal, my adoptive son.”

Alana’s eyes went wide as she looked the boy over.

“Your what?”

The tone of her voice made Hannibal shrink back further behind Will.

“My adoptive son from Lithuania. He’s the most perfect boy I’ve ever met.”

Will knelt down and pulled Hannibal to him, smiling.

“Will you help me dry the dogs again?”

Hannibal nodded enthusiastically and took the towel, going upon his task meticulously.

“Will.”, whispered Alana to him. “What is this?”

Will frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you do this?”

“Because he had no family left, Alana.”

She looked at the boy drying the dog’s paws.

Will knew he was listening. He had excellent ears.

“Let’s go inside.”, he said.

Will opened the door for her and looked at the boy kneeling on the floor with the dogs surrounding him.

“Come in when you’re done, yeah?”

Hannibal nodded without looking up at him.

Will and Alana took off their jackets and went into the kitchen but neither of them sat down.

“Will, this is the worst idea you ever had. You can’t just adopt a child.”

“He had no one. I helped him and I’m glad I did.”

“But this is crazy. I see that you wanted to help him but you can barely care for yourself, save a child. Christ, you aren’t even stable enough to raise a child. My father said...”

“What your father said was confidential between him and me, Alana.”

“He wanted to warn me not to get too close to you but I never obeyed him in that regard and you know that. I always liked you and I...”

She trailed off. 

Silence.

“So you’re saying I can’t raise a child? What do you want me to do, give him away? Let him grow up in some orphanage without someone to properly care for him? Put him in the foster care system and let him end up in a family that beats him?”

Hannibal had chosen that moment to appear silently. His eyes were wide with fear as he turned and dashed from the room.

Will felt terrible.

“Well done.”, he hissed at Alana and it came out harsher than intended.

Will went after Hannibal, finding the boy in his bed, hugging the stuffed dog that Will gave him before the flight to America. The boy had named the dog Dante.

“Hannibal, love.”

First time he used an endearment with the boy. It seemed to work because the boy looked up at him.

Will went to him, hugging him tightly and kissing his head. Hannibal held onto him as if he was his lifeline. Which he kind of was.

“I would never do that, you know that right?”

Hannibal nodded briefly.

“I took you with me because I want to take care of you. You are everything for me now.”

The boy looked at him with big eyes.

Will stroked his cheek.

“I love you, you know that too, don’t you?”

Will kissed his head again as Hannibal nodded.

“I’ll have a chat with Alana. Do you want to come?”

The boy nodded again, hugging Dante close before letting him sit on the bed again.

Will smiled and took the boy’s hand as they went into the living room where Alana was sitting on the sofa.

“Will, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

She looked a bit confused as Will sat down beside her and Hannibal did the same.

“Don’t you think we should have a talk without... well...”

“I have no secrets in front of Hannibal. Besides, you know how little boys are. He would eavesdrop anyways.”

Hannibal gave a weak smile that was a little too pleased to be genuine.

Alana frowned but apparently decided against saying something.

“I know you made your decision and I can’t ask you to revert it. But I can offer you my help.”, she proposed. “With Hannibal.”

Will looked at her for a moment.

"It would be good for him to have a mother as well as a father.", she continued. "It would give him the stability he needs. It would give him the family back he has lost. At least the impression of one."

Will saw her point, he really did, but he felt terribe at the thought of needing to share Hannibal with someone. What if the boy would start liking her better than him? What if they would start having secrets from him?

He didn't want to share the boy with anyone else. It might be selfish and he probably should consider accepting Alana's help but he didn’t want to. He wanted to be everything to the boy just as he was everything to him.

Will thought about a reason to refuse her. He couldn't just tell her no without a valid reason. She, as a psychiatrist, would probably see his relationship with the boy as 'not healthy'.

On the other hand, it would mean that Alana would be around more often and that maybe finally something would happen between them.

Will wasn’t sure which possibility he liked more. Having the boy to himself or having Alana in their ‘family’.

The boy, _his boy_ , decided to take the decision from him.

"What do you say, Hannibal? Would you like that?”, Alana asked and smiled at him.

She reached out to touch him but Hannibal wouldn't have it. He climbed in Will's lap, escaping her touch as fast as he could.

Will held him close, smelling his hair, closing his eyes.

When he opened them again Alana looked hurt.

"I'm sorry Alana.", he said eventually, turning towards her again.

"He'll get used to me eventually. Children can be like this especially when..."

"Alana.", Will cut her off sharply as he felt Hannibal tense in his lap. "I'm very grateful for your offer and I will come back on it if I need help but at the moment I don't think this is a good idea."

"Will, you have no idea about children."

"Neither have you. We've been doing fine so far."

Alana seemed like she was pretty pissed off for the lack of better words but she didn't say anything.

"Alright. I think I should go now. Will, if you need me though, let me know."

She moved forward to kiss Will on the cheek.

Hannibal pulled at Will, not wanting to let him closer to the woman.

His boy seemed to be just as jealous as he was which made his heart do a little jump.

Will did want Alana but he had never known love, always blinded by the feelings of others. He couldn't be sure if he was just projecting feelings or if he was truly feeling something himself.

With Hannibal he didn't project and he knew that.  
Alana left without another word, visibly hurt.

Will felt bad. He had never wanted to hurt her but he realised that the boy was more important to him than anyone else before in his life. 

Will had looked at the closed door for a while when he felt Hannibal squirm in his lap.

The boy looked at him with a sad look in his eyes, scared that he had done something wrong.

Will held him close.

“Don’t worry, darling, she’s gonna come around. She’s not as important as you are at the moment.”

Hannibal smiled.

Will put on a playfully strict face.

“Are the dogs dry? Or have you been eavesdropping too hard that you couldn’t focus on doing your work?”

Will grinned as Hannibal tried to get away, knowing what was coming.

The boy yelped, made an actual sound!, as Will dragged him back in his lap and started to tickle him.

Hannibal laughed as he tried to get away and so did Will.

Nope, he had never been this happy before.


	4. Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience.

Will went back to work a week after.

Jack, his former boss of the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI, had found out, through Dr Bloom, that Will was back in the country and had called him.

Will had told him that he didn’t want to go back to field work but rather only lecture now that he had a boy to take care of.

Jack had been willing to listen after the mention of a boy and asked if Will could come and see him.

Will had arranged for a qualified woman - it was very important to him that she had a degree and knew what she was doing with children - to come and look after Hannibal.

The boy hadn’t been happy about it but he also hadn’t complained.

It would be different when he would start going to school again but for now, Will had decided to keep him home.

He had found out that the boy was very smart and used to have a private tutor at his former home. They would teach him English, Italian and German, Maths, Philosophy amongst other subjects.

As far as Will could tell, Hannibal was far advanced for an almost nine year old so he had decided, until they were fully settled, he would keep him home and send him to school in the next semester.

Maybe the young Lithuanian would find his voice once more, otherwise Will would need to find a school that matched his needs.

Will himself was very reluctant to leave his adoptive son with someone else but he knew it needed to be that way.

☆☆☆☆

Will knocked at Jack’s door and the man asked him to enter in his usual harsh voice.

When the old FBI agent saw Will, his expression lighted up a little.

“Will. Do take a seat.”

Will did as told.

“Jack.”

“It’s good to see you back.”

“I’m not back, Jack, not like that.”

“Ah.”

Jack sighed.

Will knew what was coming. He ttried to tell himself that he neede to be strong, not only for his own health but also for his boy’s sake.

“Will, we need you back. You had a long break, you were gone for months. Surely you had time to recover.”

It wasn’t about the recovery, it was the danger that he would get in too deep again, that he would suffer once more. Every new crime scene was a step closer to Will’s doom.

Will knew explaining it to Jack again was useless.

“I have a boy now, Jack. I need to work regular times and find a babysitter when I’m not there. I can’t just leave in the middle of the night.”

Jack frowned.

“Who was the boy again? Bloom said you adopted him. Why?”

Will sighed, rubbing his palms against his thighs nervously.

“I’m not discussing the boy with you, Jack. All you need to know is that I have someone to take care of now.”

“The money for consultants is much better than the salary for teachers, you’re aware of that?”

Will clenched his hands into fists.

He knew he needed every penny now. He wanted to give Hannibal the best.

Jack saw his hesitation and pressed on.

“Just this one case Will. We need your help. And after you can decide if you want to go back to teaching.”

Will knew he would needed to find a great babysitter who would be able to come in fast when he needed to leave.

Jack looked at him.

Will fidgeted in his seat. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, exhausted from only minutes talking to Jack.

“I’ll make sure myself not to overload you with work but we need you.”

Will knew that this was not true. As soon as he said yes, Jack would go back to being a merciless asshole, just wanting to get on with his case, pushing Will beyond his limits.

“I’m not going back to therapy.”

Jack pressed his lips together but didn’t say amything for a while.

“Fine. But if you get worse...”

“It will not come to that. If I feel like I get worse I’ll quit.”, Will said decidedly and held Jack’s gaze for a few seconds. “I will also not drag Hannibal into all that. If I feel that he gets dragged in...”

Jack looked at him sternly.

“Alright.”

Crawford held out his hand but Will just left the office.

☆☆☆☆

Will returned home late the next day. Later than he had planned to and it was only the beginning.

Jack had immediately convinced to look at some pictures and acquainted him with the existing profile.

Will had corrected him in many things and gotten lost in the work, in the gruesome pictures of murdered, no slaughtered, people.

When he had realised the time he still had had more than an hour’s drive left to drive home.

Will felt horrible. Hannibal would be disappointed and then he would need to tell the boy that he would be going back from now on every day until the case was solved.

Thankfully there had been no crime scene for him to go to but Will knew that it was only a matter of time. And then the horror would start once more.

Will entered his house, finding his babysitter on the sofa with his dogs.

She rose and smiled at him.

“Hello Mr Graham. Did you have a good day?”

Will tried to smile but he knew that he failed miserable. Instead he petted Winston and the others who surrounded him excitedly.

“Thanks Laura. I’m sorry, I needed longer at work.

“No worries, Hannibal’s in bed already, all washed and safe.”

Will was relieved that she appeared to be as good as her refernces said she was.

“I’ll need you over for the next few weeks until further notice, will that be alright?”

She nodded.  
“Sure. I’ll run it through the agency and they’ll send you a confirmation.”

“It might be short notice sometimes since my job is very complicated and flexible.”

“No problem. Just let me know, I live within twenty minutes driving distance.”

“Thanks Laura.”

She smiled.

“Hannibal’s a great boy. Very quiet but he’s got talent.”

This time Will’s smile came easily.

“Yes, he’s the only great thing in my life.”

Laura put on her jacket.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow morning Mr Graham.”

“Noon will be fine.”

“Great.”

She left the house.

Will went up to Hannibal’s bedroom, adjacent to his own. He knocked carefully.

There was no answer so Will entered as quiet as possible.

Hannibal was already curled up in bed, blanket wrapped tightly around him, Dante in his arms.

Will smiled as he knelt down beside the bed and gently stroked the hair of his sleeping boy.

"I'm sorry I was late.", he whispered as not to wake him. "I promise I won't come home that late again."

Will felt the need to say it although he knew it was a lie. He had taken his old job back and he knew that it would cost him. The decision he had made he had made for Hannibal and yet he knew he would disappoint the boy more often then he had thought he ever would.

Hannibal was a smart child, maybe he would understand why he did it. Maybe. Will hoped for the best.

The man got up and pulled the blanket further up Hannibal's thin body before kissing his head.

"Good night, mylimas.", he whispered and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Hannibal opened his watery eyes, hugging Dante closer, trying not to cry.


	5. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any time related mistakes. I’m changing from scripts to stories on an almost daily basis so it can be messed up sometimes although I do beta myself.
> 
> This is a pretty gory chapter, including the explicitly described death of a child. Please be warned.

Will woke after only a few hours of sleep. He wasn't quite sure what had woken him but was certain it hadn't been a nightmare.

He listened closely but couldn't hear a sound. The dogs were quiet so there was no one in the house.  
Suddenly his phone rang and Will jumped. He checked the caller ID. Jack Crawford.

Swearing inwardly he picked up the call.

"Yeah?"

"There is a crime scene. I need you here."

"Jack.", he hissed, sitting up. "I have no babysitter at..." He paused to look at the clock. "One AM.”

"Bring him. I need you here."

"Jack..."

But the call was already terminated.

Will didn't know what to do. He needed to go in order not to lose his job but he couldn't leave Hannibal by himself.

The phone beeped with a message from Jack, the address of the crime scene.

Will sighed and got up, getting dressed.

He didn't want Hannibal to know anything that was going on in his job. The boy was smart and knew what he was doing but Will would rather die than pull him into the same nightmares he had to relive over and over. Besides, the boy had his own nightmares that would torture him probably his whole life.

Will went to Hannibal's room, carefully taking the sleeping boy into his arms to wake him.

"Darling."

Hannibal stirred and cuddled into his embrace.

"I need to leave to go to a scene."

The boy opened his eyes and just blinked at him, not letting go.

"I can't call Laura now so I need you to come with me. You can sleep in the car and we're going to take Winston, yeah?"

Hannibal nodded but didn't move so Will went to get him some warmer clothes, pulling a jumper over his boy's head and changing his trousers.

The young Lithuanian was fully capable of dressing himself but Will didn't mind doing it for him and neither did Hannibal it seemed. He was just a pliant, sleepy boy at the moment.

Will smiled as he stuffed Hannibal into his warm jacket and put on his shoes. Only then he helped the boy to his feet.

Hannibal followed him like he was sleep walking, petting Winston as he came towards them. 

Will grabbed the blanket from the sofa and led them out into his car. 

Hannibal climbed into the passenger seat and Will buckled his seatbelt before putting the blanket around him.

The boy immediately curled up and closed his eyes.

Winston went into the backseat and Will drove carefully as not to wake his boy.

Will wondered what others, like his babysitter must think of him. First he had come home ridiculously late for about a week’s time now, leaving his willingly adopted boy alone and not see him the whole day (in the morning he had been still asleep and in the evening he had been already asleep) and now he was dragging the confused, tired boy with him to a crime scene in the middle of the night.

As Will got closer to his destination he could already see the flashing lights of police cars not too far off.

As the first officer approached him he flashed his badge without looking at him.

The officer frowned at the child in the passenger seat, Will could see that from the corner of his eyes, but didn’t say anything and waved him through.

Will parked as close to the cordoned off area as possible.

He got out and looked at his dog.

"Winston, you're in charge."

The dog almost nodded and lied down so he could keep a watchful eye at the still sleeping boy in the front seat.

Will closed the door carefully and went to one of the officers standing in front of the tape, making sure no one came in without permission.

"Please keep an eye at the boy in my car. If he gets out, ask him to wait for me and come get me."

"Sir, I'm afraid..."

Will would never find out the rest of the sentence as Crawford approached them.

"Will, finally. Come."

He held up the tape.

Will looked at the officer who gave a sharp nod before moving a bit closer towards Will's car.

Will followed the agent into the house and stopped when he saw the first splatters of blood.

The scene was pretty brutal but that was something Will was used to. The real horrible thing about this crime scene was that it was a mother and her child.

Will had seen the pictures of the previous crime scenes and had known that the killer was prone to kill children as well as their parents. So far they had three murders, excluding this one.

Will found it especially disturbing since he now had a child to take care of himself and knew what it would mean for him to see that child die.

And Will would now be forced to see this one die.

The FBI profiler took a deep breath. This was going to be hard but he needed to get through with it as fast as possible to get Hannibal back home before he found out anything about this gruesome happening.

Jack led him into the bedroom and ushered the forensics team out but Will couldn’t hear them anymore.

His eyes were fixed on the child that laid on the bed covered in blood.

The mother was in a chair opposite her, bound so she couldn’t move away.

Will closed his eyes and swallowed, feeling suddenly nauseous.

He could do this. He would get this over with and then he would go back to his boy and spend the day cuddling on the sofa with him and his dogs.  
Will opened his eyes, his gaze distant and far away. The world began to blur. The pendulum swung. Then...

_I enter the house as quietly as possible. I know that they are asleep and never lock the back door properly. Fools._

_I’m certain as to where the bedrooms are and ascend the stairs quietly. A step squeaks and I freeze but no one reacts to it. I go on._

_I find the bedroom of the mother but that’s not what I’ve been looking for first._

_I go on and find the girl’s bedroom. I enter and press a hand to her mouth._

_She struggles in her sleep but I’m much stronger than she is._

_I stab her into her thigh with my knife so she can’t run away. Then I release her mouth._

_She screams for her mummy and I rush to the door, hiding behind it._

_The mother storms in and in that moment I overwhelm her with a blow of my weapon to her head._

_I tie her to the child’s chair while the girl whimpers and cries._

_When the mother is awake again, I start to hurt the child again._

_The mother begs and it’s what I want. I want her to see her child suffer and die eventually. I want her to go through hell before she will die herself.  
I show mercy on the child eventually, cutting her throat._

_Then I do the same to the mother, watching the life bleed out of her while holding her gaze._

_I wanted to inflict the most horrible pain possible to a parent and I have succeeded. I’m happy with what I did, I’m proud of it._

_This is my design._

Will snapped out of it, rushing from the room and outside.

Jack hurried after him.

“Will!”

The FBI profiler fell to his knees in the grass outside the house, heaving but his stomach was mostly empty so nothing but sour burning bile comes up. He hadn’t really had time to eat much lately. Or more accurately, he had forgotten to eat.

But to his credit he had also drunk a lot less than he had before. He was careful of his boy and obviously didn’t want Hannibal to find him passed out.

Jack looks away in disgust while Will tries to gain back control over his body. Slowly the heaving stopped and Will took deep breaths.

The younger man got up, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

“What did you see?”

Not how are you. What did you see. Will is too shaken to be angry.

“He killed... tortured the child in front of the mother. Only when it was dead he killed her. He wanted to see her pain. He wanted her to suffer while watching her child being taken from her and not being able to do anything about it.”

Jack called one of the agents moving around the area and whispered to him quietly.

Will didn’t care. He didn’t pay attention. He was still caught up in the murderer’s mind.

Who would do that? Who would hurt a child like this? Or more accurately, who would do that to a parent?

The killer clearly had a lot more hatred against the parents. The child was just a tool for him to carry out his perfect plan. The parents, they mattered.

The killer wanted to see the parents hurt before he killed them.

Will felt sick once more at the thought. Although he emphathized with the killer he could now also understand the parents. The thought that someone could do that to Hannibal... He wouldn’t mind if the killer took him but his boy, that was a different level of cruelty.

Will had to remind himself to keep breathing slow and steady and to keep his personal feelings out of this although it was hard.

Hannibal had become such a permanent part in his life that part of his mind was always focused on the boy.

 _The killer._ Will reminded himself. _Why? Where are you now?_

Will took a look around the pitch dark area.

There was some kind of small woodland behind the house, maybe part of the property.

_Why this family? What did they do to you? What is going on in your mind at the moment? You would want to see them suffer wouldn’t you? The father would likely come home and find them and you would want to see that, wouldn’t you you bastard?!_

Will turned around abruptly, grabbing Crawford’s sleeve.

“What...”

“The killer. He could still be around here.”

Jack turned towards the agent once more.

“Search the area for anyone. Absolutely anyone, you understand?”

The agent nodded and rushed off.

“Why, Will?”

“Because he wants to see people suffer. He wants to see the pain in the people’s eyes. He was sure someone would find them. Who found them?”

“The husband. He’s in the police car with an officer.”

“He would have sticked around long enough to see at least him suffer. He would want to see as much pain as he could. He thrives off the pain of others.”

Jack looked more alert now.

“We need to find him. Maybe he is still in the area.”

Will nodded.

And then his face went pale.

“Hannibal.”, he whispered and set off towards his car.

The police officer he had asked to keep an eye on his boy had left his post and was nowhere in sight. His car stood lonely in the dark.

Will’s stomach churned again but he couldn’t allow himself to give in to this weakness now.

When he came to the car, he saw that the front seat was empty. But so was the backseat.

“Hannibal!”, he yelled and some officers turned towards him.

Their flashlights rotated around the area as fast as Will’s heart pounded.

Jack came towards him.

“Hannibal’s gone.”

If Winston was with him he would take care of the young boy, he was sure of that. If the dog was still alive.

Jack yelled towards the officers.

“We’re missing a child. Look for a child. His name is Hannibal!”

The officers confirmed as they started to shout his name and spread out further to look for the boy.

Will joined them after an near-by officer handed him a spare torch.

“Hannibal! Winston!”

He ran towards the back of the house, checking out the pitch black area that lead into a small wood.

“Hannibal! Winston!”

Suddenly a dog barked and Will started to run into that direction like crazy, not even bothering to light the way; flashlight forgotten in his quickly moving hand.

“Will!”, Jack shouted after him but he barely heard it.

“Winston!”

Will could hear the ‘woof’ louder now. He knew he was close.

The dog jumped at him, happy and unharmed.

“Winston, where is Hannibal, boy? Where is he?”

Winston barked once more and set off at a slower pace this time so Will could follow him.

Will felt faint and energized at the same time, adrenaline making his body tingle and his stomach jump up and down.

And then he saw his little boy walking towards him, a confused expression on his face. He stood as Will fell to his knees, sliding a short way across the grass because he hadn’t slowed down, and hugging the boy so close that the young one was barely able to breathe.

“Oh my god. Hannibal. You’re okay. You’re safe.”, he mumbled and kissed his cheek, stroking his hair.

Hannibal frowned as he looked at Will and the older male was trying to suppress his tears.

Then the relief he had suddenly felt turned into anger. It was piercing through his chest like a stab of a knife.

“Never again, do you hear me? Don’t... don’t do this again! Fuck! Hannibal! How... why?!”

He pulled the boy into his arms again and stood,holding the boy to his chest.

Hannibal obeyed silently and wrapped his arm’s around Will.

“You can’t just run away in the dark like that!”

Will walked the quiet boy back towards the crime scene and ran into Jack.

“You found him.”

Will’s grip around the boy tightened unconsciously.

“Yes.”

He walked past Jack towards his car.

“Will...”

“I’m leaving.”

Will ignored Jack. He didn’t care for whatever Jack had to say anymore. He wanted to go home and get his boy to safety, know that he was alright in his bed where he could see him. He wouldn’t leave his boy’s side ever again.

Will also knew that he was over reacting and that he had scared the boy who probably wasn’t even sure why he had screamed at him but Will wasn’t calm enough to say anything yet.

He put Hannibal into the front seat but the boy buckled himself in this time, seeming to sense Will’s mood.

Winston was also very quiet. He sat in the backseat, his head on his fromt paws, trying not to look at Will.

Will was also angry at the police officer but he was not the person to go and scream at others.

He also knew that Hannibal could be pretty sneaky and would have managed to get away if he wanted to.

But why on earth would he want to go out by himself in the dark in an area he didn’t know?

While driving Will’s anger vanished mile by mile. He wasn’t angry at the boy, not really, just because it had been such a shock, such pain. He wasn’t used to that.

They arrived at home after a completely silent drive and Hannibal followed him into the house.

When he wanted to go up to his room, Will touched his arm.

“Hannibal.”, he said softly. “Come let’s sit.”

The boy looked at him a bit lost and maybe scared but Will gave an encouraging smile, indicating that nothing would happen to the boy and he wasn’t angry anymore.

They took off shoes and jackets and sat on the sofa.

Will took Hannibal and pulled him onto his lap, holding him tightly.

“I’m sorry I got loud earlier. I just... I was so afraid I’d lost you. I was so scared.”

Hannibal hugged him, kissing him on the cheek.

The boy tapped his shoulder to get his attention. They both (Hannibal more and faster than Will) had managed to learn some sign language in the last few weeks so Hannibal would be able to communicate with him easier instead of writing everything down.

_I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you._

Hannibal signed slowly so Will would be able to understand.

“I know my boy.”

Will touched his cheek.

“But why did you do it?”

_Winston needed to go outside. I tried to look for you but you were gone. I went to let him do his business in the woods. I shouldn’t have gone there._

Will nodded.

“You shouldn’t have, no but it’s alright. Please just don’t do that to me again. I have never felt so scared, never. I don’t ever want to lose you.”

Hannibal nodded and cuddled up to Will.

After a while Hannibal had fallen asleep and Will laid down on the sofa, pulling a blanket over them both and fell asleep as well.


	6. Psychiatrist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently this is much more interesting to write than the project I should be working on. Well... Here we go.
> 
> Written, as always, on the go on my phone between two jobs. Apologies for any spelling / grammar mistakes.

The next day, or better the same day, started quite early for the fact that Will had been awake for most of the night.

A knock at the door woke him from where he laid curled up with Hannibal on the sofa.

The boy was still asleep and made a whining sound, something very dog-like, when Will sat up and he slipped from his arms.

Will pulled the blanket around Hannibal, kissing his cheek, as he stood.

“Sleep, I’ll be right back.”

Winston came over and jumped onto the sofa in Will’s spot. Hannibal immediately nuzzled against him without opening his eyes.

Will smiled and went to answer the door.

Alana stood outside with her arms crossed in front of her body. Her expression was friendly but Will knew that there was something wrong.

“Morning Alana.”

“Morning? Will, it’s past noon already.”

“Had a long night.”

“So I heard.”

Will stared at her. Well, the be precise he stared at her chin.

“Let me get dressed and we’ll take the dogs for a walk.”

Will slipped back inside the house to do just that.

Alana did the same but stopped in the living room to look at the sleeping boy on the sofa.

Will came back down quickly and put on shoes and jacket. The he gestured for the dogs to follow him. All of them, except Winston who stayed on the sofa, ran outside happily.

Will let Alana out before closing the door.

They would stay in the close distance so Will could keep a look at his house, just in case. He was still somewhat shaken from what happened last night. Or this morning.

“What are you doing here, Alana?”, Will asked as they walked slowly.

“Can’t I just come to visit you?”

“You used to do that, yes, but I know that’s not it.”

Will stared ahead at his dogs. Alana was watching him, he was aware of that, but he made no move to look at her.

“I heard what happened last night.”

“He wasn’t hurt. He just meant well.”

Alana frowned in confusion. 

“I meant that you took Hannibal to a crime scene.”

“What would you have had me doing? I couldn’t leave him on his own.”

“But Will you can’t take a child to a crime scene.”

Will stopped and looked at her furiously.

“Well, that is my job, that’s what I’m good at. I need to earn money to raise my child.”

His child. That sounded weird but it was true. At least on the paper Hannibal was his son. Although he did not think of him like this. It was more like they were partners that came together due to circumstances.

Will would never want to replace Hannibal’s parents and therefore he never offered the boy to call him dad. Hannibal could if he wanted to but Will wouldn’t ask him to. He had had a dad.

Besides that, Will felt more comfortable with Hannibal not calling him dad. He didn’t ever have a good relationship with his own dad and was afraid that, when under pressure, he would make the same mistakes his dad made and Hannibal would end up hating him.

No, he wanted a better life for Hannibal. Will didn’t save him only to then spend most of his time with a bottle in hand and too little money on the bank account to buy proper food. Funny though that there had always been money for alcohol.

“Hannibal is already traumatized. He might see something that freaks him out even more.”

“It’s not like I’m taking him every time.”

“But you know that it could happen again.”

Will looked away. Of course he knew that.

“So what are you saying?”

“I want to be there for the two of you. I want to help. Leave Hannibal with me for a few hours each week and he’ll get used to me. You can then just drop him off every time you got to go to a crime scene and he doesn’t have to be exposed to such things.”

It sounded inncocent and he knew that she wanted to help him. Will did appreciate it. But Will also knew that Alana was a psychiatrist just trying to get properly established and she could need every boost in her career that she could get. Making a mute, “disturbed” child talk again that would be at least a little break through. She would do experiments and write a book on him. No. Will had been there and he would never allow any shrink to study his boy, to poke around in his mind as if it was their property.

“A few hours? So you can psychoanalyze him?”

“Will, I would never do that. But he is in need of therapy.”

“Just like me?”

Alana was looking for words now.

“Will, you can’t give him the stability he needs, not by yourself. He needs someone he can talk to.”

“He can talk to me.”

Will knew that this was useless and that they were headed nowhere with this discussion. He hated to admit it bur he knew that she was right, at least partially.

Hannibal had been through a lot and although his dreams occured less frequentnow, he still had them. He would probably need years with a therapist to forget what he saw.

On the other hand Will knew how it felt to have someone psychoanalyze you when you didn’t want that. He knew how much he felt like a guinea pig every time he had been in Dr Bloom’s or one of his other therapists’s offices.

He also remembered quite vividly how much he had hated his father when he had been dragging him from one psychiatrist to the next because no one seemed to be able to find out what ‘was wrong’ with him.

“You are not a professional, Will. You can’t help him the way I could. I just want to help.”

“He is fine, Alana.”

Will whisteled and his dogs came running back.

“I have to make lunch for Hannibal. He should be awake by now.”

Will walked back towards the house, briskly now, and Alana followed with quick steps.

“Will, please try to be reasonable. He needs...”

Will stopped and looked at her right cheek.

“I know what he needs. We work well together.”

Alana looked as if she had another argument on the tip of her tongue so Will cut her off before she could voice it.

“I’m sorry, Alana, but please accept that. I’d do anything for Hannibal and I would never expose him to anything that could harm him in any way.”

“I know.”, she said softly.

“Thank you. Well...”

“Goodbye Will. Please if you need any help at all...”

She gave a small smile.

Will reciprocated it.

“I’ll call you.”

Alana nodded and went in for a hug but eventually thought better of it and went to her car.

Will stood on the porch until she had driven away, unsure of how right she had truly been.

The dogs got restless around him.

“You are hungry boys, aren’t you? Come on, let’s get some food.”

Will went into the house after the dogs and took off jacket and shoes before moving to the living room.

The blanket they had used during the night laid neatly folded on the sofa and Hannibal was nowhere in sight.

Will went to the kitchen and saw his dogs eating out of their respective bowls already.

Hannibal stood at the counter and made coffee. When Will entered the boy smiled at him.

“Thanks for putting out the food, love.”

Will went to Hannibal and kissed his cheek.

“Are you hungry too?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically. He was always hungry.

Will smiled and picked the boy up to sit him on the counter.

“Okay, what do you want for breakfast?”

 _Crepes._ Hannibal signed. _With goat cheese and spinach._ He had spelled that out.

Will frowned at him but Hannibal beamed. He took Will’s phone from the counter, of course the boy had cracked his password, and showed him the internet page with the recipe.

“Okay. And we do have all that stuff in our fridge?”

_Laura and I went shopping and I told her what to get._

“I’m not a great cook though just to warn you.”

Will had never been much for cooking. He never really had had the time and lived off ready meals prepared in the microwave, if he had not forgotten to eat at all.

_We learn it together._

Hannibal had such a vibrant smile on his face that Will couldn’t deny him anything.

“Okay, show me that recipe once more.”

Hannibal opened it and Will began taking out the ingredients, which were neatly stored in the fridge. The boy had apparently sorted through his fridge and put actual food inside.

As Will began mixing the ingredients for the batter of the crepes he looked over at Hannibal still sitting beside him on the counter, watching every step.

“So I can assume that you like Laura?”

Hannibal gave a short nod without looking away from the bowl.

Will wasn’t convinced by his answer.

The profiler stooped whisking the ingredients and turned fully towards his boy.

He usually hated his empathy but in raising a child he found it quite helpful. Although the boy tried to hide his emotions from him he wasn’t good enough yet to deceive Will.

Hannibal looked at him with a frown on his face and pointed towards the bowl.

“Hannibal. What’s going on?”, asked Will. 

Hannibal shook his head.

“I can feel that it’s not nothing.” The boy shrank back in himself, trying to get off the counter. Will stepped in front of him and pulled him close. “You know you can tell me everything, _mylimas_.”

Will had looked up that word shortly after they had arrived in the US. He had thought a pet name in his own language would soothe the boy. He wasn’t entirely sure his pronunciation was on pointe but the younger seemed to understand.

 _You’ve been away a lot. I missed you. You were never here._ The boy signed slowly, looking at his knees rather than Will.

Will felt a stab of guilt in his stomach. Of course Hannibal had missed him. He hadn’t seen him the past week at all because he had been so caught up in work.

It was terrible to see his boy so sad. 

“I had to work to help people. But it’s only the one case.”

Will knew that Jack would try to pressure him into another case and then another and so and so forth after this case was solved but he had to learn to say no. He would go back to teaching and work reasonable hours. By then Hannibal would go to school and he would drop him off before work and pick him up after. They would see each other every day. 

“I will not take another case after this. I’m gonna go back to teaching and see you every day.”

Will kissed Hannibal’s forehead.

_But you’ll go away again soon._

Will shook his head.

“I will not stay that long anymore and I will not drag you out in the middle of the night anymore.”

Maybe Alana had been right in everything she had said. Maybe all of that was too much for Hannibal who had been through so much already.

_I liked coming with you._

Will couldn’t help himself but grin.

“Yeah?”

Hannibal nodded as he looked at him and smiled.

_I wasn’t scared at all._

“My brave boy.”

Hannibal hugged him.

_Is this killer going to come after you?_

Will swallowed, gently stroking his boy’s back.

“Why would you think that?”

_Because you try to catch him._

“No, Hannibal, he’ll not come after us. You’re safe with me.”

_I’m not scared. I’m worried for you._

“You don’t need to be. I can protect myself as well as you.”

_If he comes after you I’ll protect you too._

Will couldn’t help himself but smile.

“Okay love where were we with our pancakes?”

Hannibal opened the recipe again and Will proceeded to try his best and follow it.


	7. Killer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After catching up on what I actually should be doing and spending sufficient time with it, another update.

Will spent two blissfully quiet days with Hannibal until his phone rang again.

Hannibal looked up from the book he’d been reading, frowning.

Will tried to smile at him to cheer him up but he was sure that he failed miserably. A new call meant a new victim or new evidence and thus would require Will’s full attention once more.

Never in his life he would have imagined that he would loathe going to work this much.

“Jack.”, Will greeted his caller as he stood and walked out on the porch.

“We found out what connected the victims.”

Jack’s voice was gravelly so therefore it must be something terrible.

Will closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

“What is it?”

“All the children that were murdered were adopted.”

Will’s eyes automatically travelled through the window to his adoptive son who was looking at his book again but, Will knew, no longer reading.

The FBI consultant clenched his teeth as his gaze wandered back towards the open field around his house.

“That’s the only thing how he chooses them?”

“Yes. One of them had only their mother left because their father died in an accident. The others had two parents that were killed. The other one the father wasn’t home and survived but their mother died.”

“Do you need me to come in?”

“It would be helpful.”

“I’m on my way.”

Will hung up before Jack had a chance to say his goodbyes. Not that he ever did but this time Will was faster in just terminating the call.

The profiler went back inside and took a seat beside Hannibal, pulling the boy in his lap and hugging him close.

Hannibal looked up at him, confusion written all over his face.

Will kissed the top of his head, nuzzling against him.

“I need to go to work. And I’m not sure how long I’m gonna be there.”

Hannibal, book forgotten and fallen to the floor, grabbed his shirt and held on tight as he used to do it when he was scared of his nightmares.

“I’m gonna be fine, puppy. I’m just going to the office in Quantico. We’re going to profile the killer so they can catch him faster and I got more time for you.”

Hannibal looked up at him.

_Can I come?_ , he signed.

Will would have loved to take Hannibal but he knew that the FBI headquarter, and a crime scene, was no place for a young boy.

“It’s top secret in there, I can’t take you.”

_I won’t tell anybody._

Will looked at Hannibal in astonishment as he broke out in a huge grin.

The man laughed.

“Did you just make a joke?”

Hannibal nodded enthusiastically and watched Will laugh, totally in awe.

“Sneaky little thing. But I really can’t take you. I gotta call Laura.”

Hannibal poutet. Will kissed his cheeks until the boy started to giggle and then pulled his phone out.

“I need you to be good, yeah?”

The boy rolled his eyes and Will playfully, gently slapped his bum.

“No eyerolling on me.”

Hannibal smirked but didn’t move from Will’s lap as the older made the call to the babysitter.

☆☆☆☆

Hannibal apparently decided for himself that he didn’t want Will to leave. He held on to Will tightly until Laura arrived.

It broke Will’s heart to leave the boy.

Will had never wanted to be a dad. He hadn’t had a good relationship with his own father, his mother having left when he had been too young to remember.

His father hadn’t been a good father and therefore Will had thought this would be hereditary.

Now, having a child, Will tried his very best to make sure that he was the exact opposite of his own father, trying so hard not to be like him, that he ended almost up being like him, leaving his adoptive son with a babysitter more often than not. 

“Puppy, I’m very sorry I have to leave.”, Will whispered into Hannibal’s hair. “I’m going to come back as soon as I can, yeah?”

_You’re going to catch the bad guy._

It wasn’t a question but Will still felt like he needed to answer.

“Yes. So he can’t hurt any more people.”

Hannibal seemed to think for a moment, then his eyes went towards the floor.

“What’s wrong, puppy?”

Hannibal decided not to react so Will gently lifted his chin with his fingers, looking into the boy’s eyes. 

“You can tell me.”

Hannibal looked at him for a moment before he started signing.

_A bad guy killed my family. I don’t want a bad guy killing you._

Will felt at loss for words. Although Hannibal had expressed his fear for him before, he had never mentioned his family. Now he mentioned them for the first time because he was afraid for him, he didn’t want his new family ending up like his one had.

Will hugged the boy so tightly he was scared that he would actually squeeze him but he couldn’t help himself.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, I promise. This is the last case I’ve taken, for good.”

When he heard the words come from his mouth, Will knew that they were true. He knew that Jack could yell all he wanted, knowing that his boy was scared for him every day weighted more than anything for him now.

The doorbell rang and Will got up, still having Hannibal in his arms. He opened the door and Laura smiled at them.

“Hi Mr Graham, hi Hannibal. How are you?”

“Thanks for coming by that quickly.”

Will let her into the house.

“I shouldn’t be gone for too long, only a few hours.”

“No problem, I brought a bag in case it gets late.”

Will blushed. It was embarrassing for him to know that his babysitter already expected him to be back late.

Will put Hannibal down who looked at him with puppy eyes.

Will grinned.

“That’s not working with me, I got seven dogs.”

The FBI consultant kissed his boy’s head.

“Be good, yeah? Just a few hours.”

Hannibal frowned at him and Will knew he had every right to. It had been more than a few hours the last times he had said that. This time, however, Will hoped that he would be right.

“I see you soon.”

Will left the house, closing the door firmly behind himself.

After this case, he swore to himself, he would go and check for new houses together with his boy. They would spend the day laughing and having crappy food, which Hannibal was not too fond of but could be persuaded to eat with him.

Will smiled as he got into his car.

As soon as this was over and done with, all would be good.

☆☆☆☆

As soon as Will entered the forensic lab he knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as he had thought it would be.

Beverly, a smart woman in his age, smiled at him friendly.

Will had always liked her best from all the people who he had ever worked with but he wouldn’t consider them friends.

“Hi Will.”

“Hi Bev.”

“I heard you got a boy now.”

Will smiled a little.

“Yeah.”

“How’s he?”

“Great. I’m happy with him. And I hope he is with me.”

“I’m sure he is.”

Will was saved from the slightly awkward conversation by Crawford entering the room.

“Will. Good to see you.”

Will didn’t reply.

“Did you tell him?”, he asked Beverly.

“Not yet.”

“Tell me what?”

Jack and Beverly exchanged a glance.

“I told you that all of the children have been adopted. Quite recently. They have all come from abroad.”

Will wasn’t sure if he felt like throwing up or screaming. He did neither.

“Same adoption agency I assume?”

Jack nodded.

“That’s how he found them.” Jack took as step closer. “But why, Will?”

Will shook his head.

“Probably he’s been adopted. Or he hasn’t. No one gave him the chance these children had. That’s why he is pissed.”

Beverly flipped through a report.

“The autopsy showed that none of them was intoxicated with any kind of drugs. Meaning they had to live through the full amount of pain until their body would mercifully pass out.”

That’s when Will felt really disgusted.

Not that he always felt like this. With children... it was just different.

Will had his empathy his whole life and had learned to live with it. He had seen good things as well as bad ones and one could say that in the course of his work he had become used to cruelty and terror. And if he was honest with himself, which he rarely was, he found a certain... excitement in it by now.

But obviously Will tried to put that thought as far back in his mind as he could and lock it there. No one would ever find out.

This case however was different. Children were a whole different level and he didn’t feel the usual excitement that accompanied chasing a killer and looking at his crime scenes.

Someone who attacked children was just a coward. Someone who tortured them in front of their parents, well… cruel was not the right word to describe him but Will wasn’t sure if there was a word in any language that would be fitting.

“How does he find them?”, Beverly asked.

Jack looked at Will expectantly.

Will shrugged.

“It could be anything, really. He could just choose them as he gets the names. We need to keep an eye on all of the children that have been recently adopted from this agency. Especially the foreign ones. He could target anyone of them next as far as we know.”

“We already sent agents to all the families. The police is shadowing their houses. It’s seven families.”

Will nodded.

“He’s been attacking every week, more or less. His last kill was a week ago. He could try it any day now.”

“We figured the same and have everyone on high alert.”

“He must work at the adoption agency. At the very least, he must have access to their data.”

Beverly frowned.

“What if he hacks into their system?”

“I have IT on it. They’re checking if he hacked their system but so far no results.”

Will sighed.

“We can’t do anything until he tries again.”

Beverly’s gaze turned dark.

“I just hope that we catch this bastard before he attacks another family.”

Will didn’t say anything but he thought the same.

When on a case, Will tried to block out any personal feelings. It was something he had had to learn a long time ago and still sometimes didn’t succeed, which had let to his downfall before he left the USA.

Now, however, it was more difficult than every. He was too closely connected with the happenings. He couldn’t imagine, didn’t want to imagine, what it would feel like to see Hannibal die in front of his eyes, not being able to do anything about it.

Will shook his head to get out of these thoughts.

“Well, if you don’t need me any longer…”

Jack’s phone decided to ring in just that moment.

“Hello? Yeah… Okay. Yeah. Great.”

Crawford hung up, turning to Will once more.

“IT says the data bank wasn’t hacked so it must be one of the employees with access to it. The human resource department sent us the files of all their employees. You can have a look through them now.”

Will nodded and followed Jack.

☆☆☆☆

Laura sat in the living room of the Graham house together with Hannibal. The boy was quiet, as always, reading a book since hours. It left her with time for herself, reading or crocheting, which she had recently started to have a “sophisticated” hobby. However, she wasn’t very good at it nor liked it much. It looked more like something had chewed on it already. She sighed.

“Hannibal?”

The boy looked up.

“Are you hungry?”

He thought about it, then nodded.

“Okay, I’ll make us some food.”

The boy nodded again before looking back at his book.

He hadn’t seemed very happy about the fact that his dad needed to go to work again. He always was a calm boy but today he was especially quiet.

“Hey, I’m sure Will will be home soon.”

Hannibal looked up at her, something akin to hope in his eyes but she knew that he knew that this was not certain.

Mr Graham was a nice man, although a bit strange, but she thought that he and Hannibal were a good team. However his working hours were terrible. She understood Hannibal that he missed his dad, especially since their relationship was still new. They were still getting used to each other. And Hannibal seemed pretty happy to have the man.

Laura knew that Mr Graham had to work and he couldn’t change the fact that he needed to pay the bills. She just hoped that he would make some arrangements soon that he could have better working hours.

She didn’t mind to be with the boy at strange hours since she was used to that anyways from other clients. It was her job.

“He loves you. Give him a chance, I know he can do it.”

Hannibal put away his book and signed, slowly. 

Laura shook her head.

“Sorry sweetie, you wanna write it?”

She grabbed a pad and pen from the table and handed it over to him.

Hannibal wrote very neat for his age, almost like an adult already.

_I love Will too._

Laura smiled.

“I know, hun. And I’m sure he knows.”

She stood and stretched her arms.

“Okay, let’s see what we can make for dinner.”

Just as she was about to enter the kitchen there was a knock at the door.

Laura turned and looked at Hannibal, who frowned.

“Probably a neighbour.”

She went to open the door. Hannibal looked after her, book still in his lap but closed now.

Laura opened the door to a thin, middle aged man.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, you can.”

He moved so fast that she had no chance of reacting. A cloth was over her mouth and as it occurred to her to struggle, she was already loosing consciousness.

Hannibal saw Laura falling to the floor and was immediately alarmed. He jumped up, book falling to the floor as he tried to run for the backdoor. He was fast for his age but not fast enough to outrun a grown man.

The stranger was on him in seconds and pulled him back in the house.

Hannibal struggled and kicked and the man swore at him before pulling out another rag, pressing it over the boy’s mouth and nose.

The younger held his breath but could only hold it for so long. The moment his body willed him to take a deep breath his vision start to swim.


End file.
